York children get up close lesson on where food comes from

Paul Tompkins of South Acre Farm, near York and Richard Tesseyman, who farms at Staveley near Knaresborough, met around 60 children at St Barnabas Primary School in York to mark Farmhouse Breakfast Week.

In an attempt to better connect children with food production, they explained all the work on the farm that goes into producing the classic breakfast dish of scrambled egg on toast.

To bring the topic to life, children were given the opportunity to ‘milk’ Annabelle the wooden cow and heard what cows eat before they made their own butter.

They were also told about how farmers grow wheat for bread and had the chance to try grinding their own flour. The children then met ‘Hetty the Hen’ to find out how many eggs she lays and how her eggs are individually measured and graded into small, medium and large.

To cap off the lesson, pupils got to tuck into their own portions of scrambled egg on toast.

The event was organised by the York-based regional branch of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), and the Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) charity.

NFU county adviser Lucinda Douglas said: “National research regularly highlights how little children often know about their food, so it really is very important to show them where it comes from and how it is produced – as well as emphasising the need to eat a range of different foods for a healthy, balanced diet.

“Farmhouse Breakfast Week gives local farmers a great opportunity to leave their farm for a few hours and head into the classroom.

“Over the years their sessions have proved very popular with children.”